Enterprise Mobility Comes of Age Amid Challenges

Microsoft Dominates Collaboration Space

Microsoft Office 365, SharePoint and Lync are the most widely used collaboration applications. Google Drive is the only non-Microsoft app cited that is anywhere near as high.

Mobile Collaboration Usage

File sharing, updating files, managing tasks/projects and instant messaging are the most common mobile collaboration activities. But, on average, only a third of employees are aware of these capabilities.

IT vs. LOB: Failure to Communicate

IT reports providing mobile access to collaboration tools at a rate that is significantly higher than business respondents. More than 50% of IT pros said they have access, versus less than 30% of business users.

Even More Failure to Communicate

IT cited customer services, sales and marketing as the primary areas of focus, while business users cite finance, customer service and office applications.

Governance Polices

Less than half of business respondents are aware of their companies' mobile device policies; companies without formal mobile device policies are almost twice as likely to pay for employee devices and service plans.

Mobile Security Strategy

Mobile Enablement

Office applications, marketing automation, CRM, finance/ERP all received at least 80% support for mobile enablement. A full 50% predict 2015 will be the year of mobile enterprise productivity.

Mobile Security Priorities

89% of business users cite mobile application security as a factor in making mobile decisions. Only 56% of IT pros said the same.

Collaboration Spending on the Rise

More than 90% of IT respondents said spending on collaborative technologies for 2015 will either match or exceed spending for 2014. Operations and professional services were cited as the primary source of funding.

Mobile Computing Collaboration Leaders

Microsoft, followed by Google and Apple, are expected to be the clear leaders of mobile enterprise innovation in 2015. Apple iOS and Google Android are the two dominant platforms.

Apple may be the dominant mobile computing platform, but Microsoft rules the roost when it comes to mobile applications in the enterprise, according to a recent survey conducted by harmon.ie, a provider of collaboration app software. When it comes to making future mobile app investments, Microsoft stands to benefit most, with 2015 shaping up to be the year of mobile enterprise productivity, according to the poll of 1,400 IT and line-of-business (LOB) professionals. "For this prediction to become a reality, enterprises need to move well beyond personal productivity enablement on the go, and invest in internal and external mobile collaboration tools and initiatives," the study said. What is less clear is where those investments will be made, given the divergent views of internal IT organizations and LOB users. The differences between the two may not surprise solution providers as they often play the role of peacemaker. Business users said they want to be able to access financial apps, while IT seems to think the mobile focus should be on customer service. There is also a disconnect between how LOB users and IT view the level of access provided to mobile-enabled apps. Here are key takeaways from the study.